FACT CHECK: Did The North Korean Military Choir Perform ‘Killing in the Name’?

Joseph Casieri | Fact Check Reporter

A video shared on Facebook shows A North Korean Military Choir performing “Killing in the Name” by American metal band Rage Against The Machine.

Verdict: False

The video has been digitally altered. The choir is performing a traditional song during an event for Kim Jong Un.

Fact Check:

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to visit the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea despite the country testing a ballistic missile off their eastern coast as part of a military drill, according to NBC News. The launches come as the U.S. and South Korea launched joint military exercises amid growing tensions in the region, Al-Jazeera reported.

The Facebook video appears to show North Korea’s Military Choir performing the song, “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against The Machine.(RELATED: Did Justin Trudeau Blame Resentment Toward Politicians On Climate Change?)

The video is digitally altered. The original video shows the choir performing the traditional song “We will go to Mount Paektu” during a Dec. 25 2016 event for Kim Jung Un. The large screen in the background showed celebratory images of the North Korean military and Kim Jung Un.

The audio stems from a video by YouTube channel Rockin’1,000. The footage was uploaded in July 2019 that features a performance at Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt by 1,000 musicians covering the song together.

The edited footage appears to stem from a YouTube video from user Lars von Retriever uploaded Aug. 28. The user’s Patreon account states that the videos are edited and are simply to entertain viewers to “make America and the whole world a little bit more metal.”

This is not the first time altered content featuring North Korea has circulated on social media. Check Your Fact previously debunked a video that purportedly showed Kim Jong Un calling U.S. President Joe Biden “weak.”

Joseph Casieri

Fact Check Reporter

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